Back to the farm -

Nancy stopped in Iowa and got to spend time with her family. It's always good to spend time with Dad. Ramona fed all of us in style. - Nancy

Yard Sale and trip to the Mall in DC

Daniel, Eli and Micah cleaned out their toys and had a yard sale. They were very well organized and did a great job serving customers.
No trip to see the grandsons in Silver Spring, MD is complete without a trip to the Mall and some of the marvelous museums.
Our first stop was National Air and Space Museum.

































The second stop was the National Museum Of American History. 3CP0 from Star Wars fame was on display. We also saw the ruby shoes that Dorothy wore in the Wizard of OZ movie.



















It's always hard to say good-bye to the boys but this time was easier because they were coming to Oregon the next week. - Nancy

Visit to US State Department

One of Nancy's highlights of this year's time in the DC area was a special tour of the US Department of State, a tour that was arranged by Connie Buford who works in the Office of Overseas Schools. Connie had arranged a tour of the diplomatic rooms on the 8th floor, hosted by Dr. Keith Miller, Director of the Office of Overseas Schools. The diplomatic rooms were very impressive. - Nancy

Take me out to the ball game ...

... buy me some peanuts and crackerjacks ... Well, we didn't buy peanuts or crackerjacks, but we did go by Metro to the ballpark to see the Nationals play the Seattle Mariners. Even though we left after about six innings, we saw all the scoring (2-1, Nationals) and had a great time on a nice evening in a beautiful ballpark with Mark and the boys (Marta was in class).


One of the features at every home game the Nationals play is the "Presidents Race" where "Washingon, Jefferson, Old Abe and Teddy Roosevelt" race one another around the outfield. The boys are pictured prior to the game with "Old Abe."

Of course, since we were all in the D.C. area for Nancy's birthday, we did celebrate with a beautiful cake that Marta purchased at a nearby bakery, and even managed a birthday dinner at a nice restaurant for the four of us adults! - rw

New Friends in St. Petersburg

Thanks to our good friends from Newberg, OR, Gary & Susan Fawver, who have made many trips to Russia on behalf of Christian Camping International, we were able to connect with their sometimes-guide and translator, Nikolai who was a huge help to us in getting around St. Petersburg, translating signs and interceding for us at ticket windows. His wife, Irina, met us at the Finland Train Station and helped us find our B&B when we first arrived, and then accompanied us to the Mariinski Concert Hall to see a performance of the opera, Aida. We appreciated getting acquainted with both of them and were most grateful for their help in so many ways. - rw

The Home of Dostoevsky & Peter the Great

Our "home" for four nights in St. Petersburg was a very interesting B&B ("Pio") within walking distance of the Neva River and the famous Nevksy Prospekt (think: Broadway in NYC!). As a fan of Fyodor Dostoevsky and his famous Russian novels from the 19th Century, I was delighted to be able to walk through the "Dostoevsky Museum" which was located in within the St. Petersburg apartment where he last lived. The desk that's pictured was where he wrote The Brothers Karamazov. In the Museum we had an audio set that gave us in English much more history than we really had time for. But, it was fascinating to be in the home where he once lived.

Our last big event in the city was visiting Peterhof, the opulent summer palace outside the city on the Baltic Sea, famous for its elaborate gardens and fountains patterned after Versailles. The day was cloudy for the most part, with an occasional light shower; however, the sun came out right at the end of our tour to bathe the church, the fountains and the statuary in their full glory. Nancy bought a ticket to tour the actual palace (no tours or signage in English!) while our guide Nikolai and I just explored the gardens, with a stop at a kiosk for a hot dog! Seeing the splendor of the gardens and trying to imagine the architectural genius that mapped-out the entire area with such symmetry and purpose for the enjoyment of Peter the Great definitely gave us a sense of awe and wonder. - rw

The Hermitage

The "Winter Palace" of the Tsars expanded over the years since construction began under Peter the Great in the 18th Century. It was Catherine the Great who began to accumulate the vast collection of original paintings from famous artists that led to the Hermitage Museum becoming the world's #1 treasure-house of priceless art.



For years we had dreamed of walking through the Hermitage, and I had especially wanted to stand in front of Rembrandt's famous work, "The Return of the Prodigal." The Hermitage was overwhelming in many ways, including the sheer size of the building and the thousands of works of art that are now part of the collection. We spent lots of time in rooms that displayed the works of the Dutch masters, but also took the stairs to the 3rd floor where the French impressionists were displayed. There was way too much to see even if we'd spent the entire day, but the experience was well worth it.

One amazing thing, of course, about the Hermitage was the opulence of the building -- hallways with ceilings that looked like the Sistine Chapel and Greek and Roman-looking statuary throughout. Again, it was a bit overwhelming! Nancy is pictured in another of the long hallways. - rw